going to do some mods & wondering what you (experts) think??? I know triple black likes bostons but what about infinity kappas, or focal, quarts, audiobaun, ect...... lets hear your opinions.............

 

I'm also interested in that info.

Also, are round or oval speakers better. Are component systems better then 3way speakers? Would you rather have a 6x9 3way or a 6-1/2" component.

 

Here, ummff.. let me open this can of worms here... *twist*.
IMHO, the best speakers I've heard for the mid-highs have been Oz Audio. Blows Focal away. For subs, Oz Audio are true to the music as long as they are mounted in an appropriate enclosure. Audiobahns pack a big bang for the $$ though! Now, the best mids for the money... well, I'd say the Bostons, but let your ears be the final judge. As far as seperates vs. coaxials, well, applying theory here, coaxials are better for imaging because the audio waves start at the same plane and theoreticaly, arrive at the ear at the same time. It sickens me when I see seperates with the mid in the door and the tweets way up above the dash. Destroys the sound stage. Now, two-way vs. three-way: I go two-way all the way. There are less peaks and valleys caused by crossovers between the different drivers. There are also phase relationships that are overlooked in a lot of crossovers.

Now, having said all of that, from my years in pro audio, let me say this: Nothing is as important as matching the amplifier to the speaker. All speakers have a "sweet spot" relative to the power operating range. The worst thing to do is underpower a speaker. When a speaker is rated at 80 WRMS, then get an amp with AT LEAST that much. That way, you wont have to drive the amp into clipping to satisfy the speaker.

Have fun! :seeya

 

Focal Utopia.. Infiniti is a joke in comparison. :)

 

I like my bostons but I like more Focal Polykevlar, Focal Utopia, A/D/S 3 series and MB Quart QSD or QM series. These are all great speakers. The OZ may be better than the lower lines of focal. They have 4 grades as does boston and MB. But the top line stuff is definitely a cut above. I got the bostons because I got a really good deal on them. I am going to move them to my jeep soon and replace with focal or A/D/S soon however. These are basically the best out there but you can't say this one is best because the best speaker is the one that sounds best to your ear so you need to listen to each one and decide which is best for you. Remember, each model here really need at least 75W of good clean power per speaker. Hope this give you some leads.

 

Do you have to use an amp with component speakers? What if the head unit supplies 22x4rms and 47x4peak? Would that be enough for a moderate stereo system? I dont have the kind of money to afford those brands you're refering to

 

If you're getting components, get an amp.

 

To each his own - but I did not want to dump a ton-o-money into the audio system as I think car audio environment is the pits and when my top is down "crusing" all sonic "nuances" are lost! :yesnod:

Without initially planning it I ended up going with Infinity Kappas all around and even an Infinity amp as they could be had for a steal and were the correct shape to fit directly under the rear latch of the trunk in my Vert.

I went with the 42.3 4" amd 52.3 5.25" full range with passive crossovers and the 80.1 8" subs in the front doors with the 4". I think it sounds great
(comparable to the Focal setup that I checked out from the local high end
shop for a fraction of the price). Speaker placement, windows up/down, top up/down make more of a difference to me than the relative differences of any decent speaker better than stock and the higher end units. Now - when you get to home audio where you have less change or more control - then you can get serious. :crazy:

I bought all my stuff from a vendor on Ebay called Ikesound - funky website at http://www.ikesound.com - killer prices.

Let me know if you need more info...

 

Ok, here is my question again.

Do you have to get an amp. will the headunit power the speakers well enough for most listeners (im not a car stereo junky, just want better then bose)

 

thanks all. i like the idea of short throw 8's in the door & i will start pricing focals now. still gonna hide a 12" in the back too. now ill hav to figure out just where to (hide) the amp.....

once again................thanks

 

i have infinity kappa perfects. WHAT A F*&%ING JOKE! Get Diamond Audio's HEX line of speakers. they are awesome

 

Iceman, sent you an email.

 

Yes, you have to get amps with seperates. The deck is not enough on its own. You need to run at least 50w per channel continuous. Any less and you open yourself up to seriously damaging the speakers if you play them with any volume. This is because since they will be underpowered, at louder volumes they will start to distort. They don't have enough power to move the cone fast and hard enough to keep up with the volume. This distortion will quickly destroy the speaker. This phenomenon is indicitive of speakers that require high amounts of power to make a certain loudness of sound. You can check to see how much power they require or how efficiently they produce sound with their efficiency rating. A high rating like 95% shows a speaker needs little power to make alot of sound. Low ratings like 89% shows it needs much more power. If you want good sound and want to use the deck power, get a set of speakers that have a high efficiency rating and low minimum watt rating. The best sounding speakers that I know of that fit the bill and are reasonable are the boston RX coax speakers. Check out their site http://www.bostonacoustics.com and see. You can find a set of fronts for around $130 and rear for $175 and they sound tremendous. They also are flexible enough to run on deck power or an amp if you want to add one later. The amp will improve the bass capability of the speakers. I tried my best to explain this in layman's terms. If you have any questions, let me know.
Hope this helps.

 

get the best speakers you can. i like FOCALs. remember that regardless of how good your amps, head unit, cd changer, navigation system, and dvd player are, the speakers are ultimately what makes the sound and are the single most important component in your system.

 

Rainbow speakers are the best in my opinion. Then Focal and Dynaudio. You cannnot go wrong with any of them.

Michael

 

also, another critical part of the speaker decision making process.

buy the speakers that *sound best to YOU*. go in to good audio stores and compare any speakers you are considering, and check out some of their other stuff. you REALLY need to compare speakers side by side and find the speakers that YOU like the sound of best. the most important thing is which one sounds best to you. i cannot stress that enough. everybody has different ears and hears slightly different things. maybe MBQ's will sound better to your ears than FOCALs do to my ears.

 

I can tell you where you can hide it.....LOL.....This is sooooooooooooo fun!

 

I agree 100%. I went with Focals, because to me, they sounded better than dynaudio, rainbow, mbq, whatever. Also remember that INSTALL has a HUGE impact on sound. You can make $1200 Focal Components sound worse than factory speakers with a bad install!

 

I'll place another vote for Focal. :yesnod:

 

A lot of good brand speakers have been listed so far, here’s one more…Image Dynamics! ;)

The IDQ62 and CSX62’s are phenomenal comps. :yesnod: